


and many more

by fireworksforthedead



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers's Birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 19:08:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19470283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireworksforthedead/pseuds/fireworksforthedead
Summary: the fourth of july, two thousand nineteen





	and many more

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to pietromaxicough for beta reading this!

It had been just over a year since the Snap, and the people who were left behind were better than they had been in those first months, but nowhere near how they were before. Steve didn't know if they ever would be. He wasn't sure he wanted to be.

Steve and Natasha were running operations out of the compound, still running on that frantic hope that _maybe they could fix this maybe it wasn't too late_ , but even that was fading fast.

He woke up on his 101st birthday and wished he could go back to sleep. He was sick of spending holidays thinking of death and lost friends, instead of spending them laughing with them and basking in his carefree joy. There was work to be done, though, so Steve got up and ignored the urge to crawl back under his blankets and stay there forever.

Steve thought about the first birthday he spent with the Avengers, the second one after he woke up. It had been a year since New York and they were really starting to bond and be a team. Friends. _Family_. He hadn't heard from Thor or Bruce since they defeated Thanos, and no one knew if Clint had turned to dust with the rest of his family.

He and Natasha had heard about Tony and Pepper's wedding a couple months before, but they weren't invited. Steve didn't know what to feel about that except regret. Pepper's pregnancy was announced a few weeks previously, and Steve wanted so badly to call to congratulate them, but he didn't. Tony had made it clear he wanted Steve to have no place in his life.

A while later he found Natasha, standing in the kitchen holding a cupcake. Three huge candles, writing out 101, were squished together on the cake's tiny surface. She gave him a big smile and he smiled back, feeling lighter already. Steve hadn't lost everything that day, he has to remember. He still had one of his best friends, and maybe together they could fix this. Bring everyone home.

Steve took a big breath, and blew out his candles.


End file.
